


come back to me

by buoyantsaturn



Series: birthday week [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cats, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-01 06:16:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18330290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buoyantsaturn/pseuds/buoyantsaturn
Summary: “Nico?” Will started, and the other boy froze. “Is that a kitten on your shoulder?”





	come back to me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elibeeli](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elibeeli/gifts).



> hello and happy birthday eli!! here's your birthday fic bud i hope you have a great day!!  
> and everybody else i hope you enjoy it to but if you dont its not about you

Nico had never been more terrified in his life than when he felt something clawing at his leg in the middle of a shadow. If there had been any point to screaming, Nico probably would have, but seeing as shadows are pretty much equivalent to the vacuum of space, Nico was usually too afraid to even open his mouth, lest the air be taken out of his lungs before surfacing on the other side.

Even so, the fear had other effects. First, Nico had lost his footing when emerging from the shadow and landed flat on his back, getting the wind knocked out of him. Second, while he had been planning on landing right next to his bed in his cabin so that he could immediately fall asleep, Nico found himself somewhere in a vaguely familiar woods.

Third, he could still feel the claws digging into his leg, and frankly, he was terrified of looking down. Steeling his courage and grabbing the hilt of his sword, Nico sat up and stared down at - the kitten trying to tug its claws out of Nico’s pant leg.

Nico released his breath in relief, and reached down to gently remove the tiny claws from his skinny jeans. Once the kitten was completely removed from him, Nico picked up the tiny animal and placed it a few feet away from him before turning to walk away.

Only a few steps later, the kitten jumped on top of Nico’s sneaker, and would’ve been kicked quite a distance if Nico hadn’t immediately noticed. Nico froze, staring down at the kitten as it stared back up at him with big yellow eyes. In a second, he slipped his foot out from under the kitten and continued walking.

The kitten seemed to disapprove of his choice, however, when it jumped onto the back of Nico’s leg, the same one it was attached to before, sinking its claws in just as deep as the last time.

Nico just barely held back from crying out in pain and surprise before reaching back and pulling the cat off of his leg. Of course, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to this little creature (he’s not a _monster)_  but this kitten was starting to get on his nerves. Nico carried the cat over to a low-hanging branch and placed the kitten in the tree, hoping that this would at least keep the cat from coming after him for a few seconds.

Of course, as soon as Nico walked past this branch, the kitten jumped out of the tree and onto his shoulder. Nico had no choice but to admit defeat.

 

Thankfully, Nico had only ended up in the woods just outside the camp’s borders, and it was only an hour’s walk from the central green of the camp. However before he could sleep, he needed to find somewhere to put his kitten, and clearly leaving it in the woods wasn’t an option. By the time he had emerged from the woods, though, Nico felt like he needed to stop at the infirmary. _No,_  this was not because a certain son of Apollo had caught his eye recently and had said that whenever Nico felt like he was even at a  _ninety-eight_ instead of _one hundred,_  he should stop by. This was because Nico was worn out from shadow traveling and the infirmary was closer than his cabin, and the little monster that had been riding on his shoulder for the last hour had decided to scratch and bite at every available piece of Nico’s skin to entertain itself.

Nico trudged the last hundred yards to the infirmary, spotting Will sunbathing on the ground outside. _Like he needs to get_ tanner, Nico thought, and jumped when the kitten bit the skin next to his eye.

“Ow! Holy _shit,_  get off of me!” Nico nearly shouted at the cat, moving the pull the thing off his shoulder, only to feel the kitten’s claws digging into his skin once again.

Will, who had heard Nico’s cry, had sat up and was watching the scene unfold in front of him with a small smile.

Will rose from his seat on the ground and approached the other boy, still struggling with the kitten. “Nico?” Will started, and the other boy froze. “Is that a kitten on your shoulder?” As Will moved closer, he noticed first the many scratches and bite marks on Nico’s skin, and second the pink tint to the boy’s cheeks when Will gently disentangled the kitten’s claws from Nico’s shirt. “Oh my gods, she’s adorable! Where’d you find her?”

Nico hated that bright, open smile that Will always seemed to have on his face. Or, well, he hated that it was never directed at _him,_  only stupid things like that cat.

“Those scratches on your face don’t look too good,” Will said when Nico only shrugged. Will deposited the cat onto his own shoulder, then reached for Nico’s wrist, pulling him along toward the door of the infirmary. “C’mon, I’ll help you with those.”

Nico’s face only got redder until Will practically pushed him to sit down on the first open cot. “Stay right here,” he said, “and I’ll be right back to clean out those scratches.”

It wasn’t a minute later that Will returned, hands full of bandages and antibacterial wipes, and shoulder free of a cat.

“I passed her onto Kayla, I hope you don’t mind,” Will started, and Nico shrugged again. “I figured you wouldn’t want any more scratches while I’m trying to fix up the ones you already have.”

Will had started cleaning out one of the scratches before he spoke again. “You know, you can’t be silent all the time, you’re gonna have to talk to me eventually.”

“Sorry,” Nico muttered, looking away from Will’s - incredibly close - face.

“You don’t have to be sorry, either, you know.” Will continued cleaning, pressing an alcohol-soaked cotton swab a little too hard into one of the worse scratches, causing Nico to hiss. “Sorry! Sorry, I should’ve warned you.”

“You don’t have to say sorry,” Nico copied, barely meeting Will’s eyes, trying for a smile and hoping that Will realized it was supposed to be a joke. The blinding smile Nico received in reply almost made him melt.

“So, you still never told me where you found that kitten,” Will said, returning to his work.

“It attacked me,” Nico mumbled.

“Attacked you? And c’mon, Neeks, _she,_  not _it."_  Nico frowned, and Will laughed. “So I’m assuming you don’t have a name for her then, right?”

“Is _pain in my ass_ a sufficient name?”

“No! How could such a sweet little kitten deserve that?”

“It attacked me while I was shadow traveling! That’s never happened before! It scared the shit out of me!”

Will frowned. “Nico, you know I don’t like it when you do all your Underworldy stuff so often.”

“So what, I’m supposed to get a plane ticket every time I want to visit Hazel?”

“You’re going all the way across the country in one trip?” Will exclaimed. “Nico, you’re going to kill yourself!”

“I’m fine!”

“You’re not! And you know what, after I finish with these scratches, you’re staying here overnight. I’m going to watch over you to make sure you’re actually resting, too, and if you try to leave, you’re getting another day. Doctor’s orders.”

“No! Solace, you’re not even a real doctor!”

 _"And_ you’re going to call me Will. Got it?”

The two stared each other down for a few long moments before Nico finally gave in. “Fine, got it, whatever.”

Will returned to his work.

 

Kayla, watching from just outside the room and holding the kitten in her arms, regarded the boys’ exchange. When the two finally quieted down, Kayla watched as they each stole glances when they thought the other wasn’t looking, and after a few seconds, she stepped away from her vantage point.

“Maybe you’ll finally be the thing that gets those two together,” she whispered to the kitten as she scratched its head. “And if it doesn’t happen in the next week, I owe Austin three drachmas.”

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading and happy birthday again eli!!


End file.
